Contour pillow



Oct. 4, 1966 G. L. CAPELL! 3,276,046

CONTOUR PILLOW Filed May 7, 1965 INVENTOR. GARNET L. CAPELL/ F 2 fimma ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,276,046 CONTOUR PILLOW Garnet Lorraine Capelli, 204 Tiburon Blvd, San Rafael, Calif. Filed May 7, 1965, Ser. No. 453,978 2 Claims. (Cl. 338) This invention relates to a contour pillow. Women quite frequently with hairstyles being as they are employ spring-type curlers which are placed on the head and around which hair is nested to impart a remembered curl in the hair strands. The normal application of this technique is prior to retiring which results in a nest of rollers mounted about the wearers head during sleeping time. The resulting dilemma is a plurality of protuberances which greatly disturbs the wearer if she sleeps in any position excepting face down on a conventional pillow.

Quite frequently women with new expanded type hairdos suffer a similar dilemma due to the fact that pillow pressure against the hair during sleeping can disrupt if not completely destroy the previously set hair setting.

The object of this invention is to provide a contour pillow in which a recess portion is provided for receipt of the womans set hair while at the same time the main body of the pillow supports her facial or head areas.

A feature and advantage of the present invention lies in the fact that the head is firmly supported in a comfortable position while the hair, where confronted with rollers or expanded hairdos is nested in the cavitation formed by the contour pillow.

Another object of the invention is to provide a contoured pillow in which a pillow support area is arranged to engage a sufficient area of the facial and head portions of a person being supported thereon to provide firm and adequate support for the persons head, and to provide in the aforesaid pillow a cavity area for the receipt of hair and hair curlers in substantially free suspended relation.

Another object of this invention is to provide a pillow having a contoured section in the central portion of the pillow With the provision of insert members formed of a material having substantially the same resiliency and teX- ture as the pillow and formed with an outer contour approximating the contour of the basic pillow, thereby allowing the insert to be placed into the contoured illow.

A feature and advantage of the insert lies in the fact that the insert can be formed with a top or outer surface which is contoured in accordance with conventional pillow design. By this means the contoured pillow can be alternatively used in a hair nesting or receiving application or may be used as a conventional pillow upon insertion of the insert.

As a further feature and advantage of the invention it is noted that the insert itself may be formed with a contour of smaller or otherwise differently shaped dimensions for hair nesting. With such an application of the insert it is possible to provide a smaller aperture or hole which may receive the bun portion of hair on the back of a womans head while still retaining full support around the remainder of the 'womans head.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a pillow adapted through the use of inserts to provide a plurality of contour configurations adapted to form supporting areas for womens heads while rested in different positions in which the hair nesting and protective contours are preserved in each of the respective alternatives.

The aforesaid object is of particular utility if a woman is lying on her side during her initial sleeping phase and subsequently wishes during the progression of the evening to move to an upwardly facing prone position. In the aforesaid situation the insert can be placed in the pillow prior to moving to the second position so that optimal Patented Oct. 4, 1966 head support and hair protection can be obtained with a minimum of inconvenience to the user.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent after referring to the following specification and attached drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the new pillow of the present invention showing a woman being supported thereby in a side sleeping position.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional View of the pillow taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is perspective view of the pillow.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a piHow as in FIG. 3 but having a plurality of inserts shown at FIGS. 4a and 4b.

In FIG. 1 there is provided the pillow of the invention indicated generally at A nested on a bed B. A woman C is shown for purposes of illustration resting on the pillow in the manner anticipated within the scope of the present invention. Pillow A is formed of conventional pillow stufiing materials at its interior 15 which may include foam rubber, down feathers, or any other filler material having the aforesaid utility. The covering of the pillow is formed of fabric 18 sown or otherwise fastened at the seams to establish a conventional integral pillow structure. Pillow A, however, is formed with a contour depression or cavity generally indicated at 20. Cavity 20 is formed with a diameter contour adapted to give support to the temple area 21, cheek 22, chin area 23, and neck area 24 of the supported individual C, as Well as on the rear portion 26 of the persons head. The cavity 20 is formed of sufiicient depth to receive the hair 30 and the hair supporting elements 31 such as hair curlers, rollers and the like. It can be seen in this position that the cavity 20 forms a nest in which the hair can reside without being sandwiched under pressure between the bottom of the pillow and the persons head. As long as the person remains in the aforesaid position the hair remains free from obstructions and pressures which would otherwise render discomfort or coiffure destruction. The sidewalls 35 forming the cavity 20, as previously stated, are contoured to provide su port for the temple 21, check 22, chin 23, neck 24, and the back of the head 26, as indicated at the respective locations in FIG. 3 at 21a, 22a, 23a, 24a, and 26a.

It can be seen that by virtue of the sidewalls generally indicated at 35 the body portion of the head is firmly and comfortably rendered full support and at the same time cavity 20 provides a recess for the receipt of the supported persons hair. The aforesaid structure thereby accomplishes the desired result of facial support with the special release area for hair placement While in the nor mal sleeping position. The contour for sleeping in a prone position with the head facing upwardly should be more or less circular rather than in the irregular contour, as shown in FIG. 3. A circular configuration shown in FIG. 4a at 40 allows a section of neck 24 and the circular area around the back of the head to be firmly supported with circular wall or recess 40 adapted to receive the hair. This will allow a substantial portion of the hair to rest on the top wall 41 of the pillow. However, in such a position there is no pressure rested against the hair, and thereby no destructive or uncomfortable forces need be contended with in the aforesaid area. For sake of flexibility the modification from the contoured aperture or recess 20 to a more or less circular prone resting aperture 40 can be obtained through the use of an insert as seen in FIG. 4A. Insert 45 is formed of identical to the construction of pillow A preferably and is formed with an outer contour 46 which is the complement of the contour of aperture 20, both in depth and shape. However, the inside portion of insert 46 is formed with a circular recess 40. It can be seen, therefore, that pillow A, normally formed with a side position recess, can be quickly modified to a prone position recess by merely inserting insert 46 into recess 20.

In still a further modification, as may be seen in FIG. 4B, the pillow can be made to function similarly to a conventional pillow. This feature is obtained through the use of a plug insert 48 formed again of the same material as pillow A and of the structure. Insert 48 is formed of the same or complementary contour as aperture 40, and thus, when insert 48 is placed within aperture or recess 40 the overall contour of the pillow is commensurate with conventional pillow structures.

It can be seen that in the present invention there is support provided for people in sleeping or resting position with provision made for the receipt of hair or other projections held about the hair area of the individual. Flexibility is afforded in the present invention by providing inserts which change the effect of the support area for the head and allowing greater flexibility for head positioning.

It is to be noted that while the present invention has been discussed predominantly in reference to utility for protection of womens coiffures and hair setting hardware, the pillow may have useful application in conjunction with medical or first aid applications, for example, in conditions where a side of a persons head may be sub jected to burns or severe lacerations in which pressure or contact would cause severe pain or damage. It is believed obvious that the pillow of the aforesaid invention could be well applied in helping such medical problems.

While several embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described it will be obvious that other adaptations and modifications may be made with out departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A hair-protecting pillow comprising: a main body having stuffing material and a cover enclosing said stufling material, said body being provided with a continuous, arouate surface extending inwardly from the normally uppermost face thereof to define respectively a central recess spaced inwardly from the outer margin of said body, the inner side boundaries of a pair of spaced head-supporting side portions, and the end boundary of a neck supporting portion adjacent to said head-supporting side portions, the

4. latter extending toward each other and being disposed substantially midway said neck-supporting portion and the extremity of said recess remote from said neck-supporting portion, one of the side portions being disposed to support the temple, cheek, and chin areas of the head and the other side portion being disposed to support the back of the head, the distance between said side portions being less than the transverse width of the region of said recess adjacent to said remote extremity, whereby said region is enlarged with respect to the area between said side portions and is of sufficient size and configuration to permit the hair to be disposed therein in an undisturbed, uncompressed condition when the head and neck are supported by said portions.

2. A hair-protecting pillow comprising: a main body having stufiing material and a cover enclosing said stufiing material, said body being provided with a continuous, arcuate surface extending inwardly from the normally uppermost face thereof to define respectively a central recess, the inner side boundaries of a pair of head-supporting side portions, and the end boundary of a neck-supporting portion adjacent to said head-supporting portions, one of the side portions being disposed to support the temple, cheek, and chin areas of the head and the other side portion being disposed to support the back of the head, the region of said recess remote from said end boundary being of sufficient size and configuration to permit the hair to be disposed therein in an undisturbed, uncompressed condition when the head and neck are supported by said portions; and an insert having a continuous outer surface substantially complemental to said inwardly extending surface, the width of said outer surface being substantially equal to the depth of said inwardly extending surface, whereby the insert will define a continuation of said body when said insert is disposed in said recess. 7

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,199,479 5/1940 Cappel 5-338 3,009,172 11/1961 Eidam 5-338 FRANK B. SHERRY, Primary Examiner.

A. M. CALVERT, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A HAIR-PROTECTING PILLOW COMPRISING: A MAIN BODY HAVING STUFFING MATERIAL AND A COVER ENCLOSING SAID STUFFING MATERIAL, SAID BODY BEING PROVIDED WITH A CONTINUOUS, ARCUATE SURFACE EXTENDING INWARDLY FROM THE NORMALLY UPPERMOST FACE THEREOF TO DEFINE RESPECTIVELY A CENTRAL RECESS SPACED INWARDLY FROM THE OUTER MARGIN OF SAID BODY, THE INNER SIDE BOUNDARIES OF A PAIR OF SPACED HEAD-SUPPORTING SIDE PORTIONS, AND THE END BOUNDARY OF A NECK SUPPORTING PORTION ADJACENT TO SAID HEAD-SUPPORTING SIDE PORTIONS, THE LATTER EXTENDING TOWARD EACH OTHER AND BEING DISPOSED SUBSTANTIALLY MIDWAY SAID NECK-SUPPORTING PORTION AND THE EXTREMITY OF SAID RECESS REMOTE FROM SAID NECK-SUPPORTING PORTION, ONE OF THE SIDE PORTIONS BEING DISPOSED TO SUPPORT THE TEMPLE, CHEEK, AND CHIN AREAS OF THE HEAD AND THE OTHER SIDE PORTION BEING DISPOSED TO SUPPORT THE BACK OF THE HEAD, THE DISTANCE BETWEEN SAID SIDE PORTIONS BEING LESS THAN THE TRANSVERSE WIDTH OF THE REGION OF SAID RECESS ADJACENT TO SAID REMOTE EXTREMITY, WHEREBY SAID REGION IS ENLARGED WITH RESPECT TO THE AREA BETWEEN SAID SIDE PORTIONS AND IS OF SUFFICIENT SIZE AND CONFIGURATION TO PERMIT THE HAIR TO BE DISPOSED THEREIN IN AN UNDISTURBED, UNCOMPRESSED CONDITION WHEN THE HEAD AND NECK ARE SUPPORTED BY SAID PORTIONS. 